The James River girls will play host to Glenvar Thursday night in their final game of the basketball regular season. The Knights will then wait to see who they will play in the Region 2C tournament.
River had a home game against Patrick County on Tuesday. Results were too late for publication, but the Knights took an 11-10 overall record into that game and a 5-5 district mark after splitting two Three Rivers games in the past week.
Last Friday at Radford the Knights took a dominating 68-39 win over the Bobcats. River jumped to a 28-6 lead in the first quarter and never looked back.
“We came out from the tip and we had energy and fire,” said coach Ryan Firebaugh. “We played extremely well.”
Caitlin Canada led the Knights with a great all-around game. Aside from being the game’s top scorer with 18 points, she also had 10 rebounds, six assists, six steals and two blocks. Kelsi Maydian had 12 points, Siera Davis had 11 and Honesty Liming had 13 rebounds.
“Extremely proud of my girls for going on the road and getting a big win in the district,” said Firebaugh. “The Three Rivers is a tough district to play in, especially on the road.”
On Monday the girls played at Carroll County, and the Cavaliers were lying in wait after River upset them in a prior meeting in Springwood. This time the defending Class 3 state champions got some revenge with a 68-39 win over the Knights.
Photos by Bryant Altizer
Alyssa Ervin, one of the top players in the state, had 25 points to lead the Cavaliers.
“I thought we did a pretty good job on her at times,” said Firebaugh. “I told the girls during practice and pregame that she is going to get her points, but if we limit her to 20 and below then someone else will have to step up.”
Canada had 21 points and 11 boards to lead the Knights. Liming had five points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Canada needed just 13 points against Patrick on Tuesday for 1,000 for her high school career, and she’s just a junior. The Knights have just one senior on the team, Liming, and she’ll be recognized for “Senior Night” on Thursday when River hosts winless Glenvar to wrap up the regular season.
The top eight teams in the 12-school region make the Region 2C tournament, and River will wait and see who they open with when the regular season wraps up this week.
